Attenborough film unveils seabed destruction caused by bottom trawling

Dramatic footage from Sir David Attenborough’s landmark new film captures the destruction caused to the seabed by bottom trawling.

Ocean With David Attenborough, released in cinemas to mark the renowned naturalist and TV presenter’s 99th birthday, includes a sequence where the camera follows a bottom trawl, where nets are dragged with a metal beam across the seabed to catch fish.

As the iron chains travel across the ocean floor they can be seen bulldozing through the habitat, stirring up silt which releases carbon and scooping up species indiscriminately.

The footage is thought to be the first time the process has been filmed in such high quality, showing the scale of destruction caused by trawling.

Sir David can be heard saying that “very few places are safe” from the damaging fishing method, which occurs daily across vast swathes of the world’s seabeds.

In the cilp, he also highlights how trawlers, often on the hunt for a single species, discard almost everything they catch.

“It’s hard to imagine a more wasteful way to catch fish,” he notes.

Bottom trawling and other forms of destructive fishing are permitted in UK waters but conservationists have long been campaigning for a full ban across all marine protected areas.

The impacts of bottom trawling and dredging are largely hidden from public view and are carried out without the knowledge of what marine life is being destroyed.

Ocean looks to spotlight how human actions are leading to ecosystem collapse.

The film also seeks to highlight the need to protect nearly a third of the oceans so they can recover from overfishing and habitat destruction, secure food for billions of people and tackle climate change.

Beyond the destruction seen from bottom trawling and coral bleaching, Sir David also highlights inspiring stories from around the world, delivering the message that taking collective action will provide the opportunity for marine life to recover.

“If we save the sea, we save our world,” he says.

Toby Nowlan, Keith Scholey and Colin Butfield, who directed the film, said: “Collaborating with David Attenborough to deliver this powerful message is a dream come true for us as filmmakers and storytellers.

“We hope that sharing this unprecedented look at bottom trawling will bring greater awareness to the reality of what’s happening beneath the waves and inspire audiences to protect the world around us.”

Enric Sala, National Geographic Pristine Seas founder and executive producer of the film, said: “I couldn’t think of a more crucial time for this film to be available to a global audience.

“For the first time, people can see the destruction of bottom trawling unfold in front of their eyes — the heavy nets dragging across the ocean’s precious floor and killing everything in their wake.

“I hope the film makes people all over the world fall in love with the ocean and inspires them to protect it.”